


Metamorphose

by Mistress_of_the_Underground



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mates, Multi, Obsessive Behavior, Onesided Lee Taeyong/Jung Jaehyun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2020-06-28 07:57:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19808032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mistress_of_the_Underground/pseuds/Mistress_of_the_Underground
Summary: Metamorphose (verb) ~ To change into a completely different form or typeOr in which Donghyuck is a shapeshifter with no one who cares for him and Taeyong begs on his knees to be allowed to love him.





	1. Prologue

Sometimes it is extremely hard to please those around you and still be who you want yourself to be and who you have become. Sometimes it is impossible to achieve.

This is exactly what the small six-year-old Donghyuck has been feeling since the early hours of the morning when he woke in a quite a different body than the one he fell asleep in. A body he should have never gained for that was not his family's right or curse.

He is sitting on his bed and tears of despair run down his cheeks. What will he do now when all he had is gone like smoke in wind? 

Hyuck has always been considered weird. Be it by his relatives whispering mean things to his parents or other children around him making fun of him behind his back, but to wake up as the fawn of the smallest deer species in the world is too much even for him. Now he really is an outcast in the society.

He had opened his eyes this morning only to see the specs of dust flying around in his almost fully dark room – something he had never seen before. He knew he shouldn't be able to see it at all, the human eye isn't physically able to see such details in the darkness, yet here he was seeing them all float around like tiny snowflakes on a sunny winter day. 

Trying to push himself up with the help of his hands results in him finding himself laying in a heap on the floor. Apparently, hooves are not made for walking on soft beds like his. Wait a minute – hooves!?

Donghyuck stares at his short front legs, covered in soft brown fur and hooves and all that. Those are definitely not the human arms and hands they should be but more likely those of a deer, one that is extremely tiny at that.

He tries madly to get onto his feet. His panic is stopping him from thinking things through so his attempts are fruitless for his small short legs do not cooperate with him. 

Minutes pass as he lays there on the floor. He wants to cry, he wants to scream and wake up from this nightmare. He would give anything to be held and comforted. Anything to get rid of the fur covered body he is in.

His heart beats against his ribs as if wanting to come through him and escape running down the street. Donghyuck can't seem to gain control of his way too fast breathing.

Maybe he makes too much noise with his tries to gain footing against the somewhat slippery floor with his hooves for his mother with her messy bun storms into the room and demands an explanation for the noise. Then she notices him, the extremely small pudu fawn that is huddling the pillow on the ground in front of the bed, his eyes huge with wonder and fear.

She does the only thing she could think of - she screams.

If someone was still asleep on their street before that, then now they definitely were not.

She storms out of the room, leaving the confused fawn behind, the boy in him just as confused. For neither knew what will happen to everything they knew before.

~~~~~

Although the sun was yet to rise fully everything seemed to go wrong already.

An hour has passed since the fawn was discovered on the floor of his room.

Currently, the small shapeshifter, who spent the last hour trying with all his might to turn back into the human form and was finally successful three minutes ago, is sitting behind the kitchen table, staring in the cold eyes of the man he calls his father.

The silence is infuriating. No one has said a word since Hyuck came downstairs and found his mother spacing around with her arms crossed. His father is sitting behind the table and stares at him with a cold calculating look - a look one would give to an object that is in the way but too disgusting to touch.

"What is going on?" the boy's voice is small, but sounds so loud in the quiet room.

No one answers him. They both look away from him. They pretend as if he isn't there, as if he didn't ask a question.

"Eomma?" 

He stares at the woman, his eyes brimming with tears. She turns away from him.

"Appa?"

The man's eyes lit with fire. His hands on the table top curl into fists. He stands up and the chair he was seated on flies against the cupboards behind him and sits there on its hind legs.

"A freak like you is no son of mine!" 

His voice is ice cold, his eyes burning with rage. His knuckles turn white from how hard he is pressing them into fists. His arms tremble as if he is barely keeping himself from hitting the child in front of him.

"Get lost," he growls lowly.

Hyuck stumbles out of the chair and storms back into his own room. He picks up the pillow and blanket from the floor and curls up in them on the bed, letting his tears roll free. 

His body shakes with the sobs he can't hide nor drown. God knows he wants to.

He wants to wake up from this horrible nightmare that haunts his every sense. He wants back the two people he used to look up to, who loved him unconditionally - or so he believed for it is all gone with the wind now. 

Every last whispered I love you's, the hands messing his hair, the small smiles, it is all gone. Something he will never have again. He isn't loved anymore. No one cares about him. Maybe never has.

He stares at the mirror on the other side of the room. He remembers the soft short brown fur, the gentle white spots and the huge eyes. What does it matter if he doesn't even know what is wrong? He doesn't even know if his condition is deadly for the matter of fact.

He truly is the lonely star in the night sky no one comes close to, but sometimes the star next to you is yet to born, yet to shine brightly and light you up, maybe so is his.


	2. Chapter One

Hyuck's Pov

Sometimes I feel like I have failed those around me, the people I should look up to, the ones I should bow before till my nose touches the ground they walk on and those I should love with my whole heart for the blood ties alone. How could I be anything but a failure when all I can manage is to disappoint everyone wanting to see me at my best, when all I do is hate those I should love, loathe those I should respect with everything in me?

The fire of anger burns in me and has done so for a long while now, for years without a change in sight. Nothing could put it out, absolutely nothing in this world holds the power to make me love those who claim to care only to hate everything I represent. Those who think they own everything I am and dictate my every breath, say if I live or die. They hate my whole being for only a small part of me, for the small part that I had no control over. 

I am unlovable and my heart too cold to know what the emotion everyone would die for feels like. I don't need someone's care. They are faking it anyway.

When I was a small child, no more than the tender age of six years, they first called me a freak of nature, claimed that I didn't deserve to be called their son. Year by year it became worse, but no matter how horrible, they have never laid their hands on me in rage. 

Not a single being I've seen in life has called it a gift or a blessing. The things I have been called aren't good, one is worse than the other and no love is ever present. So often as I've been designated as a monster, the times people who should love me with no conditions and no questions asked, couldn't look me in the eye, couldn't tell their neighbours that I was THEIR son and not a relative's they were keeping an eye on.

Should I care if they live or die? Probably. But do I give a rat's ass about the ones I'm forced to address as my parents? Of course not.

For a year after the initial rejection, I fought for their attention, fought the deer in me to have back what I lost. They turned me away, looked away from the child begging for the love he should get no matter what.

I look around my room. It doesn't feel like home. Maybe it did feel like that eleven years ago. It holds no value to me now. I will never see the room, the building nor things here again and I don't regret that decision at all.

The clothes in the closet mean absolutely nothing to me. They bought the expensive pieces so that they being seen with me wouldn't be even more embarrassing than it already is due to my shapeshifting abilities that the rich kind don't look kindly to. Well, they don't look kindly to any minorities so, same difference.

I don't care about the different pieces of the newest technology or expensive jewellery. They only tried to buy my silence. Saving their own skin once again. The embarrassment! The tragedy! Their son is a shapeshifter and should anyone find out they won't be respectable anymore. The horror!

I don't have anyone to talk to no matter the objects around me. People either think that I am a spoiled brat who thinks he is better than everyone else, I'm a struck up prick or that I am a walking wallet they could leech off of. I'm none of those things and never will be. I'm not my parents.

I sigh when my eyes fall onto the two old books on the shelf. I worked for months to buy them from this old woman who has a bookshop thirty minutes from here. I had to fight to earn my own money so I could get them. My parents might buy me everything else but they refused the books. I never asked again. Those two are the only things I regret leaving behind in this wretched place. They taught me all I needed to know about my other form, maybe it should have been my parents to teach me or at least find the materials to help me on my way to self-control, but those books are my home.

My fingers tremble on the doorknob. I can't. I can't leave like this.

I scurry back into the room and drag a small waterproof bag from under my bed. I stuff the two leather covered books into the small bag and throw it over my shoulder. 

I can't leave them behind. Those books are more like my parents than my real ones have been.

I run down the stairs and out the door into the cold night, ignoring my father's screaming. If you address a freak and ask them where they are going then first find a freak. I'm not it and shall not be either.

My body slips out between the gates before he could catch me. Goodbye, you can think I am dead now just like you've wished all these years for me to be.

I stop quite deep in the woods. My heart beats miles a minute. I need to calm it and my breathing or he will hear me - if he even followed me that is. Maybe he doesn't care enough to do it?

I sit down, my back pressed against the rough bark of the tree. I need a place to stay in. A cave or a burrow where I could rest in peace and hide my books from the unloving water and nature wanting to destroy them. 

A branch breaks behind me and a flash of light rests next to me on a bush, searching for me. I need to get lost. I don't have time for humane ways, I need to disappear into the thin air or he will end me with his own bare hands, no questions asked.

I set the book bag down next to me and turn. Being only 35 centimetres in height can be a problem when there is a tall human chasing you. That's a problem that I need to overcome. 

Besides being a problem, it is a blessing as well. I can fit through places he could never access.

I shake out my reddish fur and pick up the light bag with my mouth. Now I hope that I don't stumble on the bag or get stuck somewhere with my short antlers.

I take a deep breath and dash. Faster, faster, I chant in my head. I will my short legs to move. Under the bushes, behind trees, through the river that made me wet all over, except a small part of my back and head, and I am gone from his view for forever.

You have lost me, lost me the moment your love metamorphosed to hate and I shall no longer dance to your choice of music. I'll choose my own from now on and let my soul dance along.


	3. Chapter Two

Hyuck's Pov

My legs are on fire. At least that is what it feels like after the thirty minutes I spent running away as fast as I could - gradually losing the speed I worked hard to build up but still dashing through the woods with a bag in my mouth. I must have been an interesting sight. As far as I am aware though, there was no one to see me like that.

The pain and weakness make me feel like someone exchanged them for noodles. Wet noodles at that. I have no idea how long more I will be able to stand or move, but there are still things that need to be done before I could rest.

There's a small cut on my left front leg from when I stumbled over some branches for the book bag made everything a lot more difficult than it would have been without it.

It was totally worth it though.

It doesn't even hurt that much, to be honest. To my luck, it doesn't bleed either, not anymore, the few drops that were left onto the branch are nothing. It was far enough for no predator to chase me here and I am sure that it will be healed before I know it.

Let my new life begin. Who needs humans? They are fumbling fake idiots who want to use you at every chance they get. Animals, sometimes crueller, sometimes nicer, are at least honest till the last drop of blood.

They either want to eat you or do not, you are either the eater or the one eaten but no animal stabs you in the back like humans deal with things. Maybe that's why I like animals way more than I'll ever like a human. There are none with their heart in the right place.

I breathe in the fresh air of nature. It is so different from the smells of the town. No cars, no stinky ladies who put on a bottle of perfume a day and don't do anything but gossip and no cigarette smoke to make me feel as if I can't breathe.

Free once and for all from all of the things going on.

I sniff around the small cave near the river that I found. It would be the perfect place to live in with the fresh grass and nearby water source. Smells abandoned, the last animal to be here is long gone. They were here so long ago that it is impossible to even say who they were.

Good. Exactly what I was looking for.

It truly is the perfect place. Hard to notice due to the trees and bushes that hide the entrance. Big enough for me and small enough for bigger predators to not fit in at all. Maybe their head, but that's all too. The depth makes up for that small part and I am still uncatchable.

I can hide the books in here and do what I planned to do - live the rest of my life as a pudu. There is enough food around here and if I remember correctly there is some money left on the bottom of the bag. I won't die from hunger even if the snow is over my head. It would mean being a human but for only a short while, the rest of the year in solitude definitely makes up for it. 

I drop the bag in the back corner where shadows hide everything from sight. With my foot, I gently push it into the small alcove and kick some smaller rocks to hide it. 

That will have to do for today. It is the best someone with hooves can do. I'll deal with it tomorrow when I have enough energy to change forms and use my hands to better hide them.

For today I need something for dinner. Maybe I should have eaten at that cursed house but that would have cost me more valuable time than I was willing to sacrifice. Allowed to sacrifice for the plan to ever work. Maybe I would still be there, possibly for another day or week, if not months.

No, it is better this way. I'll find everything I need with the freedom in my hands. Hooves? It's the same difference anyway.

I drag myself back outside. Food here I come! 

I don't have to go far from the cave for the whole meadow is covered in grass that at some places reaches over my head with no problems. Time to make this place more home-like and safer.

So I start from near the entrance to get the grass shorter. If it's over my head I won't notice danger when it comes and free food too. I'm so lucky to be able to get my stomach full with only grass. I don't think that I would be able to hunt tonight and I do prefer grass to the thought of eating meat too. That probably due to being a pudu. 

I don't get far that night. Being small has its plusses and its minuses. No matter the minuses I wouldn't exchange the animal in me for any other species. Being a pudu is better than being a rat for example and definitely better than being an elephant.

Sure, pudus are not native animals around here, but they aren't noticeable either. Saves the explanation of why there is an elephant in the woods where it definitely should not be.

Having eaten my fill of grass I return to my new home and curl up in the dark shadows. It isn't as comfortable as sleeping on a bed. I can deal with a better sleeping place tomorrow, for now, it is good enough for my aching limbs and eyes heavy with sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wake up with the sunrise and for the first time since last night, I take back my human form. The one time I am glad that I'm also small when I'm in my human form and fit in the cave. Well, fit inside that is, even I wouldn't fit through the entrance. I wouldn't fit through the entrance even if I was thirty centimetres shorter than I really am.

I sit in front of the small alcove where I hide my books last night. I move the rocks away and push the bag further in there and set the rocks back better. Now it looks like a natural heap of rocks that have fallen from the ceiling. Even if any human or animal managed to get in here, they would have no access to my fortune unless they knew exactly where they are hidden.

Having solved that problem I set out into the woods, having to turn for a moment to get out of my home, to look for some nest material. I need a better bed or I will end up with chronical joint pains. Maybe I find some fruits too. Even a pudu can't eat grass twenty-four seven without anything else.

I return with my arms full of moss and stuff it into the cave as deep as my arm can reach to push it. I'll deal with it after I have done all I need to do. Food supplies first, making the bed later.

On my search for moss soft enough to sleep on I stumbled upon a lonely persimmon tree. Possibly the work of some kind of a bird. Can't say that I am not glad about it. With fruits nearly ripe enough to be eaten immediately I can't afford to not take as many as possible with me. I need something where to hold them though or I shall have none at all. 

Hours have passed with me sitting beside the river using all my logic and memories of baskets and the picture I have seen in my whole life to weave one out of the reed that grows around here. 

This thing will never be considered as the best looking basket in the world, but it is as good as the worst looking one. There is no way I could make one better than that. Especially if the maker is currently ready to murder for a basket that looks more normal.

Hopefully, it is strong enough to not break under the fruit. I can not take weaving another one in the near future or the personification of frustration will murder me in my sleep without mercy. Near future translates as in the next fifty years when it comes to baskets.

With my new-found respect for basket weavers, I set on my way to the lonely tree that is going to be feeding me for as long as I manage to get fruit from there. 

I stuff the basket as full as possible, some of the orange persimmons make a small mountain on top of the already full basket. It is physically impossible to stuff any more persimmons in there. It isn't that important as there is enough food for a while, especially if I avoid walking in my human skin.

I have to learn to manage my deer body better than I do it at the moment. I won't worry about it for there is the rest of eternity in these woods for me to live. Lee Donghyuck is dead for the small pudu, with eyes as bright as the sun will use the body they share till the last day.

It is time for Haechan to shine.


	4. Chapter Three

He flops down next to Ten and sighs heavily. This evening could possibly not get any more worse than it already is. 

"What was it this time?"

Ten asks, a bit cautious about how bad it could get. It is also clear that he is curious about the item they'll donate to the charity or sell this week that is currently sitting in a nicely wrapped box on top of the table. 

"I don't even know," Taeyong sighs "I didn't open it. Didn't want to."

He burries his face in his hands. This has gone on too long for his liking, for Ten's as well. 

"You know that I have always wanted to care and be cared for," he pulls in a shaky breath. Ten's comforting hand on his shoulder is the only reason Taeyong can still think of it without having a breakdown. 

"But, but not like this!"

The first tears slip down his face and disappear between his fingers. His cries are mumbled, his hands muffling them. 

Ten sighs and wraps his arms around Taeyong's shaking shoulders and pulls the older against his chest. 

"I've told him so many times, but he just won't listen," Taeyong's cries are slightly gaining a higher pitch. He removes his hands and turns fully towards Ten, hiding his face against Ten's shoulder, almost fully sitting on his lap. 

"I don't know what to do Tennie," his voice waivers and his hands against Ten's back tremble slightly. 

"I'm scared. He just won't leave me alone! Why won't he?"

Ten hides his nose in Taeyong's hair.

"I wish I knew," he whispers.

He doesn't know what to do either. All he can do is comfort the other. The man is so utterly obsessed with Tae that it is scary, but he is careful. He never does a thing that could be considered as assault or stalking. Ten just wishes he would stop it, that he would learn to listen, to understand. 

"Come on Tae, you need something to eat and then you need to rest. I'll open it myself."

He urges the older to get up and drags him towards the kitchen, all the while animatedly talking to cheer his best friend up on the way. 

"So, take this, and this. Oh and that too."

Taeyong makes a helpless sound in the back of his throat as Ten loads his arms with different ingredients from the refrigerator. 

"Now, here you have all the ingredients you need, cook us dinner."

Ten sits down onto the counter and whistles a small tune as he watches Taeyong expectingly. It is clear that he will spend the time it takes to cook exactly on that spot commenting on everything that comes to his mind. Including the way Taeyong cuts the carrots. 

"You're making them a tiny bit too thin, just a little thicker would be perfect," he whines from his spot, earning himself a pointed look. 

"Well, you know I'm right, so make them a little thicker."

He adds the last bit with a slight pout, trying to convince his friend that he is indeed always right. 

"Very well, don't whine later," Taeyong whispers and proceeds to make them a little thicker, but the moment Ten gets lost in another topic, he returns to his previous work style. 

"..... and then she told him to.., hey! You still made them thinner Yongie!"

Taeyong wouldn't be surprised if the neighbours three streets over heard Ten's whining. 

"You brought it on with all this gossip that I don't remember half of."

He says matter of factly and continues to ignore the man making pouty lips and puppy eyes on top of his counter. 

"But those are news! You got to know your gossip!"

His whines are high-pitched and so utterly childishly whiny that Taeyong  
can't help but to laugh out loud at his best friends antics. He ignores Ten for the rest of the time it takes for food to cook. Ten doesn't notice it either. He is content with continuing the story of how their neighbourhoods old lady broke up with her boyfriend like the carrot's were never a topic. 

Taeyong knows Ten enough to know that humming here and there fools him for quite a long time. He has learned to listen to the other's voice pitch to know exactly when he needs to listen to the last two sentences and where to exclaim loudly "The audacity!" or fake a lot more excitement over the drama than he actually feels. Ten still falls for it every single time without any doubt. 

"Enough now, the food is ready," Taeyong cuts Ten's sentence in half that does earn him quite loud and various complaints. 

"You're lucky I love your cooking,"  
T

en mumbles around a mouthful of food. To the pointed look it earns him, he swallows quickly and cheekily hows his tongue to the older. Ten knows that he won't do a thing about it expect give him another twenty pointed looks, which just become funny after a while. Ten has known Taeyong enough to not be scared of the looks he gives any more. He is harmless after all. 

"Now, shoo, in bed you go!"

Ten pulls the older up by his arms and pushes him towards the exit of the room. 

"But the dishes!"

"Forget the dishes, I'll do them," Ten exclaimes. He wanted the older to rest now. He looks sleepy enough to fall asleep while standing up. 

"Alright, who are you and what did you do with Ten?"

Ten rolls his eyes and continues to push his friend towards the bedroom. 

"Oh you've lived through washing dishes it can't be THAT bad," he laughed. He ignores Taeyong's raised eyebrow and finally manages to get the other in the bedroom. 

"Now, sleep! Goodnight!"

Ten screams already half-way out the room and slams the door. 

Good, he managed to avoid Yong noticing the present again, even if it cost him the horror of washing dishes. He grimaces towards the dishes but still proceeds to stuff them in the sink to get it done as soon as possible. 

Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul was definitely not put onto this earth to wash dishes!

No amount of whining could get him out of it, and he knows it very well. There isn't anyone to whine to for example. 

He places the now clean plates into the cupboards and hides the knifes and pots and other utensils into different drawers he saw them come from. 

Taeyong will find them anyway.

With a sigh he sits back down on the couch, his eyes set on the box on the table. He didn't think that it would be another extremely expensive piece of clothing like the last few times.

The box seemed to be too small for that. He tore the gift wrap away and almost dropped the soft dark blue velvet box to the floor. 

Oh no. 

Not this. 

He opens it with his hands shaking. There lays a bracelet. The small diamond shines bright against the deep coloured material. There is a small piece of paper slipped under the expensive piece of jewellery. Ten wants to rip it to pieces after the first three words. He leaves the jewellery and grabs the paper and with it a box of matches. 

He storms outside and stands there, in the middle of the sidewalk, watching as the paper burns to crisp. 

He hates that man with his whole heart. 

My dearest love, 

Promise me you'll wear the bracelet I gifted you for the anniversary of our first meeting tomorrow. I would love to see it on you. 

It suits your eyes, the prettiest jewels in the whole world. And they are all mine just like you, I'm glad for that. 

Yours truly for the rest of eternity, 

Jung Jaehyun


	5. Chapter Four

The only reason that Taeyong even wakes up as early in the morning as he does, nearly two hours before he is supposed to, is Ten.

In his hurry, the man had forgotten to close the blinds last night and confused Taeyong to the point that he didn't know what else to do but go to sleep either.

Realizing that he will not sleep for another minute, no matter how hard he squeezes his eyes shut or how deep into the pillow he pushes his face, he gets up and drags himself through his morning routine of jumping through the shower and getting dressed into a pale pink sweater after digging through every possible corner of his closet.

It isn't funny to be up at this time, he isn't used to it at all. The culprit, Ten, is definitely still asleep. The man is too lazy to even think of getting up early. He thinks, after all, that Taeyong's regular awakening time is "too fucking early for the world's bullshit".

With a stifled yawn and a stretch making his tippy toes carry his whole weight as he reaches for the ceiling like a big cat, he leaves his spotless room behind. 

No matter how tired, he won't leave his bed a mess. No, he had folded his blanket into a rectangle and placed it on to the feet of his bed. While made beds create the perfect environment for bugs to roam, he can find a way that is between a mess and a bug invasion, thank you very much.

Speaking about messes, Taeyong hopes that he won't find unwashed dishes sitting in the sink. He will skin Ten alive and sell said skin on the black market for a huge amount of money if it is so.

One thing he hates even more than he hates mess are empty promises.

He doesn't reach kitchen to make sure of Ten's work quality, for the man in question is sitting in the living room staring at a blue velvet box, that brings back the horrible memories of yesterday that had been buried.

Taeyong sighs and sits down next to the man. Ten doesn't even notice him, still fingering the box absentmindedly.

"What's in it?"

Ten jumps and almost drops the box for the nth time in the last twenty-four hours. Taeyong's sudden appearance had managed to make his heart skip a beat.

"You scared me, see! That's my heart running around the room!"

Taeyong grins at that and leans his head on Ten's shoulder, cuddling against the other's side.

"I guess the thing that is wildly beating in your chest is a stolen one then."

Ten mumbles something under his breath that might as well have been in thai and turns his attention back to the box.

"There's a bracelet in it, the one you happened to look at a week ago," he whispers that last part, internally hoping that Taeyong doesn't hear it.

It is too much to ask for.

Taeyong lifts his head off of Ten's shoulder and replaces it with his hands, turning his eyes towards the other.

"The 3,000,000 Won one?" He asks, eyes wide like doe's. Ten only nods, he doesn't know what else to do. Nothing could make the situation any better.

If Jaehyun gifted that specific bracelet to Taeyong then he must be following him around. Frankly, it scares the hell out of him.

"Could you please get rid of it?" Taeyong's voice is shaky and all the other tell-a-tale signs of him going to cry are there as well.

Ten stuffs the box between the couch pillows and pulls the older fully into his arms, giving the older a chance to hide his face against his shoulder and cry should he wish that.

They spend nearly an hour on the couch, just holding each other close and basking in the warmth and comfort the other provides. They could stay like this forever.

Ten unwraps his arms from Taeyong's waist and stands up.

"You coming?" he asks and gives Taeyong both his hands to take a hold of. He pulls the other to his feet and into a fleeting embrace when the older does gently place his own on Ten's.

He drags him to the kitchen and once again convinces Taeyong to cook for the both of them like he did the night before and obviously the night before yesterday as well. And before that.

For all the things Ten knows how to do, cooking is not one of those. Okay, he doesn't burn down the whole neighbourhood, but Taeyong knows so much better. A man with the looks of a model, the heart of a puppy and the cooking skills of a professional cook is quite rare and Ten isn't going to let go of the one he found. Jaehyun can go and stuff his obsessiveness in his own ass.

"I'm not washing the dishes again!" Ten screams as soon as the plates are empty. He sprints to the living room and grabs the jewellery box from the couch in case Taeyong really plans to slave him and shackle him to the sink till he washes the dishes. Again.

"Last night was enough to last me three lifetimes of washing dishes!" 

Taeyong giggles and follows him into the living room with a sponge in one hand. 

"You sure about that?" He asks, tone purely teasing.

Ten nods furiously and turns to escape the house with his wallet, keys and the aforementioned box with the bracelet, but Taeyong catches his wrist.

"No, please no! Taeyong, you know I love you!" he begs, without giving the other any chance to even open his mouth.

"I'm not enslaving you, you just forgot to take your phone with you," the older grins and lifts the hand holding the phone in question. "Or if you really want to, you can take that too and get in the kitchen," Taeyong whispered, a cheeky smile on his lips as he lifts up his other hand.

Ten grabs his phone and escapes out the door hastily, excuses flowing out of his mouth like water down the waterfall in spring.

His fastly departing figure leaves behind a laughing Taeyong to take care of the dishes while he searches for the nearest jewellery shop that would actually accept the bracelet back. With money or without it.

Ten walks through two shops who absolutely refuse to even think of taking the bracelet back, no matter the number of times Ten promises them that it has never been worn or even lifted from the box it is in.

With a sigh, he enters the third one. The last one in walking distance from their home. He feels like his legs are going to fall off soon if he has to go and find another shop to offer the bracelet to. He is so close to actually giving it to a random person on the street who would appreciate it or it's value in money at least.

"Hello, I would like to bring in this bracelet. It hasn't been worn at all." 

He feels like a parrot, going from one place to another repeating the same sentence over and over again. Most often, getting ignored or turned down.

The woman raises her eyes and checks him out. Ten knows that he doesn't look extremely rich with his black jeans and random flowery dress shirt he threw on this morning, but it isn't impossible for him to actually be able to afford the bracelet. 

After all, he did think of buying it for Taeyong for few minutes before figuring that the other was only admiring and does actually not want to own it. He bought the other a new sweater instead that was a lot more appreciated.

"Could you show it to me so I can confirm it isn't fake or gotten damaged?" She asks, her tone polite, but her eyes still raking Ten's body.

Ten let's out a sigh of relief. He has hope of getting rid of it. Finally.

"Of course," he tells the woman behind the counter with a slight smile and gives the box to her. Maybe he should make a run for it? Then he doesn't have to bother with it anymore.

He ruffles up his dark hair as he waits for the woman to do her job. He is silently begging for her to just accept it.

"We will take it, but we can not pay you back the expenses fully," she finally concludes after what felt like centuries.

Ten feels a smile fight it's way onto his face as he accepts the one and a half million wons the lady is willing to pay. It's half the bracelets worth but it is more than enough, he would have been happy to get rid of it for free as well.

He thanks the woman and leaves before she could start asking for phone numbers or something equally horrible. 

Now that this is done with, he can return home, to Taeyong, and rest his aching feet. Maybe persuade the other to give him a massage if he is lucky.


	6. Chapter Five

While Ten is out, Taeyong takes care of every household job he manages to come up with. From washing the dishes to getting rid of dust from under every possible piece of furniture and wiping over every surface in the house, including the lamps. He even folds the laundry and stuffs Ten's clothes in the man's closet, doing the same to his own a little bit later. Soon, in the middle of his cleaning spree, he realizes that he really needs to go grocery shopping as well or he would never hear the end of Ten's whining about lacking certain things from the refrigerator. Orange juice and the damn green tea ice cream that Taeyong never manages to find before he has been to three shops and is losing his mind for example. He can't say that he doesn't love said items, but he could do with a shopping pause for a while. Truth is, he just doesn't want to go outside.

With a sigh, he finishes his current task at hand - washing the floors of all the rooms in the house. He could really use some relaxing on his free week, his new schedule is a week away and while he loves modelling, he loves rest about as much if not a little bit more. He will blame it on Ten.

The man was the one to introduce him to the possibility that he doesn't have to "slave away" day after day as Ten puts it, but that he can also just lay the whole day and do what he likes the most and relax till he doesn't feel the tension in his body anymore, or till he has been laying so long that he starts feeling it again but from keeping the same position for too long and not because he hasn't stayed still for god knows how long.

Tayong used to think that to be successful and useful he really needed to constantly be doing something, usually cleaning. He spent days cleaning before Ten decided that doing it that long was destroying Tae's fair skin.

He wasn't wrong. After stopping the mad habits, his cracked and dry skin on his hands started to heal and look a lot softer than it was before. It helped him immensely, the next model agency didn't turn him down anymore as the first had done months before Ten started controlling the time he spent cleaning. He didn't stop him physically, no, he just did all he could to take Taeyong's attention away. Games, movies, he even dragged the other out to restaurants and coffee shops, there was an incident of going shopping for clothes as well and Taeyong was sure that Ten had once taken him to get his nails done as well.

Taeyong sets straight the picture of the two on the wall and grabs everything he might need, including his phone and wallet, and leaves the now clean house behind. He locks the door and just in case, checks if the spear key is still hidden in the ample of blue Scaevola next to the door of their house.

The key is still there, hidden just under the stems close to the side of the pot, so if Ten might need it he can use it to get inside, not stand outside the door for no one knows how long, waiting for Taeyong's return.

Having made sure that everything is as it is supposed to be, he leaves the house behind and gets into their car to go shop for all the unimaginable things they need. He is left to wonder why Ten left him with the car and didn't take it with him to go on the jewellery shop hunt.

He shakes off the questions, it's just like Ten to do unexplainable things that end up being useful for them, or at least for one of them.

Taeyong hopes to get back home as soon as he can. He has spent a maximum of two minutes among the crowd and he wants to go back home already. The crowds exhaust him endlessly. Always have.

He collects different ingredients and puts them in the cart, completing the menu for a few days in his mind as he does so. 

He pays no mind to the people around him in the middle of their own shopping trips as he compares the two items in his hands. The sleeves of the light pink sweater are pulled up a little, revealing his bare wrists for the world to see should it want to.

He finally makes the choice in favour of one of the items and places it in the cart before turning back to the shelves in front of him. He doesn't get to view them for long. One of his wrists is grabbed, not tightly, the hold is quite gentle but still makes him jump in fright and turn towards the person.

As if burned he pulls his wrist free with a scream that gets cut off fast for the man's hand covers his mouth.

"I thought you would like seeing me, glad to see I was right, darling." His voice is sweet, fakely so, dripping like fresh honey. He scares the hell out of Taeyong without even trying hard enough.

Taeyong takes a step back to rid himself of the hand still covering half of his face. He finds his back pressed against the cold metal of the shelf's corner. He is cornered and he doesn't like it one bit.

"Jung Jaehyun," Taeyong tries to force his voice to sound collected, tries to make himself seem confident when he is everything but. No matter what, he can't stop it from shaking, same with his hands.

"I've asked you before to leave me alone, please do so." 

No matter what, his voice doesn't stay even. He doesn't succeed in creating the confident image he wants to, he is so obviously scared. The other clearly knows what his presence does to Taeyong and he is only enjoying it more, so much is clear.

"Oh, you know you love the attention dear, you wouldn't play hard to get otherwise." 

Taeyong begs for a chance to go back in time. Seeing the smirk he has learned to fear playing on the other's face, makes him wish that he had waited for Ten's return to take the other with him, not come alone.

"I don't!" He wishes he could get away from the man taller than him, standing in his personal space. He is too close for Taeyong's comfort.

Jaehyun grabs his wrists, his hold is light, but his brows furrow. His eyes flash with anger that makes Taeyong hope that the other wouldn't dare to hit him in public.

"Where is the bracelet? You promised to wear it," his voice adapts a growling like deepness to it, portraying the same rage that is swimming in his eyes.

If Taeyong didn't fear for his life before, he sure did now. He couldn't trust the man to be sane enough to not commit a murder in board daylight in a crowded shop.

His attempt to back up is as fruitless as are his tries to get the other to let go of his wrists. Jaehyun's fingers have an iron-like grip on him now. His nails are cutting into his flesh. His wrists are surely going to be covered in bruises tomorrow - if he even lives that long.

Taeyong feels the first drop of blood run down his arm from where the other's nail slashed through his skin. Soon multiple droplets of blood from the other nail cuts follow suit. The blood is staining his sweater, sinking into the fabric of Taeyong's favourite piece of clothing.

"I tho...thought that that it is too pret...pretty for everyday wear."

Taeyong begs to every God out there. Please make him believe it. At this point, Taeyong is ready to do almost anything to get out of the other's hold.

He should have brought Ten with. He is never going out alone again. Never again.

Jaehyun's face is mere centimetres from Taeyong's, his breath hot on Tae's lips. He is as close as if he is planning to kiss the other, doesn't matter if he wants it or not.

The other traces his fingers across Taeyong's arm, up from his wrist to his shoulder. His hand caresses the skin on his collarbones and run up to the base of his throat. 

"Even you don't believe that lie, baby."

His grip on Taeyong's throat tightens lightly, not stopping his airflow but still being uncomfortable and scary.

"You will wear it every day from now on," he growls into his face. His hand tightens further against Taeyong's neck. His eyes are intently staring at him, his eyes sucking in every detail and change on Taeyong's face.

That will bruise surely as well. He will be covered in bruises by tomorrow for sure. 

Jaehyun might not kill him today, but that doesn't mean he won't do something else to him. He wants out of the other's grip, he just wants to curl up in his bed, in Ten's arm and cry himself to sleep once again.

Jaehyun grins at him and that is all he knows before he can feel the other's mouth cover his own in an unwanted kiss. 

His lips are dry, roughly fitting to Taeyong's. His hand is still holding the other's throat in a tight grip, close to cutting the airway, but not entirely. His actions make it hard to breathe. 

At this point, Taeyong doesn't know if he even wants to breathe if it means living in the other's grip. He would rather die than spend his life next to a man like Jaehyun.

He knows that there is no point in struggling. Trying to fight off the other's lips would probably end up with a broken neck in the worst case. He pushes his free hand against Jaehyun's chest, but he wouldn't have enough strength to push him off even if he had both hands free, but his right hand is still in a tight hold by his side.

"Taeyongie!"

Jaehyun immediately releases Taeyong, including his neck and wrist, and takes a few steps back, removing himself from Taeyong's personal space.

A quite tall man, with hair the colour of a small fox is walking towards him, his steps long and a little bit hurried.

Taeyong suppresses the urge to wipe his mouth, but he will be brushing his teeth and washing his face ten times over as soon as he gets out of this situation.

"I haven't seen you in forever! Why didn't you call me after you last visited, your sister misses you!" 

He talks quite loudly and envelopes Taeyong in a hug. He adds almost silently against his ear: "Play along, I don't want you to get more hurt than you already are."

He hugs the unknown man back and spells a smile on to his face. Any type of help is welcomed, known or unknown.

"I'm so sorry, I've been a bit busy. But you can come over!" He plays along as if the man is actually close to him and not a total stranger there to save him.

He notices the look in Jaehyun's eyes. If he isn't careful he might think that he is romantically interested in the fox boy and hurt him. So he adds to his previous musings to save the others hide in return.

"Is your wife in town too?"

Jaehyun's face scrunches up and he turns on his heel and leaves them be. It's still clear that the other will be back soon to terrorize him, but for today he is free.

Taeyong feels every last bit of tension flow out if his body in the form of tears. They stream down his cheeks and he couldn't stop them even if he tried to.

The other wraps him in his arms again, his hold comforting as he just lets him cry.

"Thank you, thank you so much." Taeyong cries against the other's shoulder. "You saved my life."

The other smiles to him as he pulls away from the hug. 

"Anytime." His smile lights up half of the room, his presence so bright.

"I'm glad I could help. I'm Jungwoo by the way."

He smiles again and offers the shorter male his hand.

"Taeyong, but you already knew that somehow," he doesn't ask outright but the question is still clear.

"Oh, I'm just a huge fan."

One time when Taeyong is thankful to be recognized in public places for his job, he always thought that there would never be an incident that would make him thank the fame.

While Taeyong loves his fans, he really could use some rest from human interactions occasionally.

"How could I repay you?"

The other smiles. He wishes that the boy had met him under better circumstances.

"A photo and an autograph would be more than enough."

Taeyong gladly provides the asked for Jungwoo. Without being asked the other sticks next to him throughout his whole shopping trip and walks him to his car as well.

"Thank you so much, I don't know what would have happened without you there," Taeyong doesn't think he could ever stop thanking the other for what he has done for him.

"I'm glad I could help someone."

Jungwoo leaves him with a wave and an enthusiastic bye. Taeyong hopes he could see the younger again one day in the future.

Having lost the sight of the other, he leaves the parking lot as fast as he could without breaking every rule known to mankind. 

He is going to go home and the devil himself won't get him out again. He will drag Ten to bed with him and that's the end of the story.

He runs inside from the car, forgetting all the groceries.

"Ten!" 

He gets no answer, but the other's shoes are in the hall. He has to be home.

"TEN!"

He hears a quiet yeah from one of the rooms, seemingly one of the bedrooms.

The door to Taeyong's room is open and Ten is playing a starfish in the middle of his bed. 

"Hey, what are you doing in my bed?"

Ten only hums in response, he doesn't even lift his face from Taeyong's pillow. If anything he only snuggles closer to it.

"I was tired after the shop hunt and my feet hurt. I came to look for you to get a massage but you weren't here so I decided to wait for you," his muffled voice explains.

"Will you, please?"

He turns his head towards Taeyong, his eyes are still sleepy. He must have fallen asleep while waiting.

Taeyong opens his mouth to answer, but he is interrupted when the previously very lazy man jumps up and runs to him. Ten's fingers stroke his neck gently, ticklishly so. His eyes are wide, and scared.

Taeyong realizes that his skin must have taken the purple colouration of bruises already.

"What happened to you? Who did it?" His voice breaks and Tae notices the tears in his eyes.

He lifts his right hand to run his fingers through Ten's hair to calm him, but it doesn't happen. The other grabs his hand turning his clearly purple wrist to the light. The five red cuts stand out on the inside of his wrist, the dry blood staining his arm.

"He did it to you?" 

Ten's eyes couldn't be wider, the first tear slips down his cheek. 

He checks his other wrist, finding it in the same condition as the first one - bruised and cut.

"Anywhe... Oh god." Ten doesn't finish his question. Instead, he ends up staring at Taeyong's face. His finger runs gently over Taeyong's bottom lip. It must be bruised or bruising as well.

"That bastard kissed you?" 

He nods. There is nothing he can do about it.

He is left standing there as Ten storms out of the room. Great, now he upset the closest person he has as well. Tears well up in his own eyes and he sits down in the middle of the room, hiding his face in his hands, just crying his heart out.

He storms back into the room after almost ten minutes of being away.

"Oh no, I didn't leave you, Yongie!"

He drops on his knees next to the uncontrollably crying man and wraps his arms around him.

"I went to run you a bath, I'm sorry, I should have told you," he whispers as he begins to drag the taller man up to his feet and towards the bathroom.

"Get your clothes off and call me when you are in the tub, okay?"

Taeyong nods at the other and disappears into the room, following Ten's wishes.

He gets rid of his blood-covered clothes and stuffs them into the laundry basket that he had emptied just this morning and relaxes into the bathtub filled with bubbles. Ten sure does know what he is doing.

"You can come!"

Ten shuffles into the bathroom like a supportive puppy. And kneels down next to Taeyong.

"Now, the deal is like this. You don't lift a finger and I shall take care of you." 

Taeyong wouldn't argue against the pointed look the other has learned from him even if he had something against the situation. It isn't the first time so he doesn't even bother to do anything but sink further into the tub.

Ten had spent the time wisely and exchanged his long-sleeved shirt for a tank top and his long jeans for a pair of high-waisted denim shorts. 

Taeyong doesn't turn much attention to Ten's attire, for he decides to stop thinking about things the moment Ten first cards his wet fingers through his hair to wash it. He might have taken a shower this morning, but nothing is better than someone else taking care of one's needs.

Ten's hands could perfectly well make him forget everything he ever has known, well maybe except his own name.

"I could spend an eternity in this bathtub."

Ten only laughs at him as he rinses the shampoo he had rubbed into Taeyong's hair out. His hands move over Taeyong's neck more gently than they do over his shoulders. They run over his whole body. 

He maybe spent nearly half an hour in that bathtub, under Ten's careful hands. The other gets up with a light smile.

"I brought you clothes to, so you can get dressed. If you want to I can rub your body lotion on to you too, but then you have to find me in the bedroom." He leaves the room giving Taeyong as much privacy as the other wants.

He spends the given privacy to wash his teeth as thoroughly as he can as he does with his face. He needs to lose all traces of Jaehyun's touch from his body. He can still feel his touch on his skin. He wishes he could scrub it off.

He doesn't look in the mirror, he doesn't need to see the disaster that he is. If there is anything he would need, Ten would help him with it.

He takes the shirt and sweatpants to his arms and exits the bathroom in his underwear. He will get Ten to take care of his skin like the man offered and there is no going back. But first, he begs him to get the groceries inside. He is glad that he didn't manage to get the ice cream or it would be a mere wet spot in their car by now.

"TEN!"

Said man storms out of the bedroom as if the house was on fire.

"You need me?" Ten looked worried for a moment as he stood there staring at the half-naked man who had a smile on his face.

"I wanted to ask if you would agree to retrieve the groceries from the car before I take you up on your offer."

The shorter inhales and exhales, calming himself and nods then. He leaves Taeyong's sight and the other is left to make himself homely on his own bed. He takes the same starfish state Ten had been in when he got home. He should make it up to Ten for the amount of running around he has had to do today because of Taeyong.

"I brought them in and put them away," he says as he enters the room. "Skin care now?"

Taeyong nods against the pillow he has buried his face in. He will take care of Ten's aching legs once the man is done with said skin care.

Ten lets him stay laying like a starfish on his stomach. The bed dips as Ten climbs on to it and kneels between his legs. His lotion covered hands rub over his calves and thighs and when he doesn't reach for more Ten straddles Taeyong's thighs as his hands run over his back, arms and shoulders.

"Turn over," he said as he climbed off of Taeyong's legs. The other does as said. The sight of his throat still made Ten gulp down his sadness and rage. The bastard might be ten centimetres taller and most likely stronger but should he catch him, then Ten is 170 centimetres of pure rage.

He shakes off the thought of said bruises and resumes his position between Taeyong's legs, going over the front side of the man's body as he had done with his backside. He lays down next to him once he is done, his hand gently on Taeyong's stomach, his fingers caressing the skin there till the other pats his hand away. 

"Stop tickling me!"

Ten laughs at that and puts his hand back on Taeyong's stomach but stops the tickling as asked.

"Are your legs still aching?" Taeyong asks after a quite long pause of silence between them.

The question has no base to be asked in Ten's mind but he nods his head and wiggles closer to the other, planning to lay his head on the others shoulder. Only that said shoulder leaves the mattress as Taeyong sits up and pulls one of Ten's legs into his lap.

His fingers work on Ten's foot and he ignores the whines and wiggling toes, to ease the tension from the muscles.

"Who is tickling who now!" Ten screeches and pulls his leg away as Taeyong's fingers touch an especially ticklish spot.

Taeyong pulls the leg back into his lap with a laugh. His face lighting up, forgetting himself in Ten's presence.

"I'll try not to," he adds after Ten continues to stare at him with accusing eyes and a pout.

"I promise."

Ten gives up and tosses both his legs to Taeyong's lap. He shall try to ignore the occasion it feels ticklish for it makes everything a lot better. The other's hands chase away the pain that had made home in his muscles. 

"I want cuddles after that," he whines. Taeyong stares at him with a caring gaze, before looking away with a light chuckle. 

"You shall get them, however many you want."

Ten nods his head and relaxes back onto the bed. As soon as Taeyong finishes soothing his legs he climbs into Ten's arms with a sigh.

"I never thought that it would get so bad. I always thought that his delusions only went as far as getting me gifts, but he," Taeyong pauses to calm himself and all that Ten does is run his fingers through the other's hair as he waits for him to continue. "He like thinks that I love him, that I'll marry him one day."

He raises his eyes and looks at Ten. "What will even happen? What if he hurts you?"

Ten holds Taeyong's face in his hands, making the other look into his eyes. "He won't, I'll stay safe, I promise you."

Taeyong pulls himself up to be eye level with Ten, his eyes staring deep in Ten's. The other's hands rest now on his shoulders.

"Never go after him, promise me," his voice is begging, pleading for the other to listen.

"I won't, I promise."

Taeyong sighs and runs his eyes over Ten's face. The other is still worried about him and angry at the man who thinks he loves Taeyong the most.

"I just don't want you to get hurt and it is clear he could do something bad to you or to me and-" He doesn't get further than that.

Ten's lips brush against his, the touch careful and light, asking for permission without any words spoken. Ten's hand brushes against his neck, his hold as light and tentative as his lips.

He gives in, he pulls the man closer to himself, deeper into the kiss that he has forever waited for.

Taeyong gives up on all rational thought. All he can think of, all he can feel and sense is Ten. His lips against his own, his fingers intertwined in his hair, his warm hand sliding down his back, resting on his hip. The feelings of belonging, of being cared for. The war of tingles on his skin and inside him are all he can feel.

He gives in to the temptation and kisses the other back, his lips tender from the rough treatment from before, but no less easy or weak.

It's sweet, it's tender, it's caring and light. But it is also deep, passionate and everything he ever imagined kissing Ten would be like. Ten's other hand traces patterns onto his skin, dragging it lower and lower. His hands rest on his hips, his hold not tight but just there.

With no warning he finds himself under Ten. He had flipped them over, his eyes looking at Taeyong, staring at his parted lips. He can feel the others hot breath ghost over his face and he loves it. It is so close to what happened before, but it is Ten. He has known the man for years, lived with him for years - loved him for years and he is so much different. So much better.

"Stop staring and kiss me again."

Taeyong's voice is raspy, his breath stolen by the few seconds of tender love the other had laid upon him. Ten's lips find their way back onto his, perfectly covering his, fitting together like two puzzle pieces meant to be.

They spend the day in each other's arms for that is where they belong and have always belonged. Maybe they should have noticed before, but that makes no difference for them. 

They found each other.


	7. Chapter Six

Minutes go by and become hours and hours become days just as fast. Soon months go by and the sun of August, that has warmed the woods and Haechan's soft brown fur, is exchanged for the strong and cold winds of November, pulling and tugging at his skin, freezing his small body, breaking trees and throwing branches upon him, till all he can do is hope that he doesn't die in the storms taking over the land in their rage, trampling the small deer under their feet as if he is just a mere fly at their mercy.

With the strong winds, the rain and even hail arrive, they come down and ruin every last clearing, that is covered in edible grass, close to the cave. And with the river coming over its shores, the clearing, which Haechan has been calling his home for a few months, has been a muddy field with a little to eat for a while now. The water is quickly overtaking the ground, turning the area into a lake that one can't get through without swimming.

So far Haechan's homely cave and a small track out of it against the wall of the cliff the cave is in have been untouched by the mud and water taking away his food and living spots, but it isn't going to be so forever. Haechan knows that soon there will be nothing as water comes to dance in the old road of the river, leaving nothing behind for him to enjoy.

Maybe this is the reason the cave had been abandoned in the first place, for as soon as the rainy season begins, water takes over everything around, the cave included. The life in it as well. It shows no mercy as it takes back what it once owned. Haechan hopes that the water will no longer rise and maybe it will leave him the only place he found to live in. 

Until one morning, he wakes up with his hooves and nose in ice-cold water and he just knows that all hope is washed away - he has to move or he will drown in the freezing currencies the river throws his way in its moodiness. His cave is flooding and if the water level rises another inch, he won't have a place to live in anymore for then the water will take him along as well. Only a thin line of the sandy floor is left before everything will be fully gone for who knows how long. Nature itself is throwing him out from the place he has built up into a suitable nest. Maybe he isn't even supposed to be alive if everyone wants him gone so bad? Who in their right mind would give a fuck about him after all?

No one.

Haechan shivers at the feeling of the cold seeping into his fur. Not only has he felt hunger for days as the grass is underwater and the persimmons rotting away where they lay, but he also doesn't have a place to stay in for long either. Where will he go if nothing will keep him safe from water? He can’t just go back into the human world. Go back to his ex-family and ask to be let in? That would be the same as signing his death note. He doesn’t have enough money for a hotel, but he doesn't have a choice, to be honest, but he needs to go back to find anything to eat before he starves to death. Then he needs to come back to the forest and find a place to live in for a short while, at least until the water goes down and gives him back his cave.

He scrambles up and turns to dig up the bag that he had hidden all this time ago. He needs to leave or the water will drown him and his precious treasure with the cave. Having retrieved it from the place it was so carefully hidden in, he stares ahead of himself, towards the place the exit should be. His big eyes fill with fear as he stares at the dark water threatening him. He can feel his legs shake.

He never bothered to find out if pudus can swim for he didn't think it would be important. Now he is here, standing face to face with his biggest fear, the water in front of him is pitch black, it moves slowly against the walls of the cave. He needs to trust his instincts for no one ever bothered to teach him to use his human limbs for swimming. He is dead if his instincts don't know what to do, but it is his only chance to ever get somewhere.

Dead meat.

His whole body shakes as he steps towards the cold water. Will he freeze to death before he could drown? He doesn’t know. The water is cold, but will it cramp his muscles and drag him down before he could even think of swimming?

Haechan pushes down his fear that burns inside him and dives into the shallow water before he could chicken out again. It tugs at his fur, makes his legs and muscles tremble uncontrollably, pulls him deeper under before he realizes he should move his legs, that he could never get anywhere if he stays still. That would be a one-way ticket to the bottom of the fresh lake. His limbs are cramping a little before he even reaches the mouth of the cave.

He needs out. He'll drown if he doesn't get out. Out, out, out.

He can feel his lungs burn. He can’t breathe anymore. There is no oxygen to fill his lungs. He is going to drown. Dots dance around his eyes. He is going to faint. He is going to die.

His nose surfaces on the other side and he can breathe again, the sweet air fills his lungs and for a moment he loses himself in the feeling that finally being able to breathe gives him. The feeling of his body beginning to sink back into the water reminds him that he is nowhere near safety yet.

There is only one thought that keeps crossing his mind like a mantra.

‘I don’t want to die!’

In his agonizing fear, he trashes his feet, but it doesn’t move him forward at all. He needs to calm down. He needs to control his body. 

He gains some minor control over his body before he can fully tire himself out and he finally sees the edge of the water get closer to him. Soon, before he even manages to realize, he stumbles out of the water, wet all over, his legs shaking as he trots further away from the water before he collapses onto the ground.

He is safe. He is finally out of the water. He isn’t going to drown. He is going to be alright.

Maybe now he can find a place with moss or dry grass to dry his fur in a bit. And maybe now he will be alright till summer brings back the sun and warmth again.

Who is he kidding? That would be too good to be true. It always is after all.


	8. Chapter Seven

Finally being able to kiss Ten on those red lips of his whenever his heart wishes is like a God-sent gift in this cursed time that weighs heavy on Taeyong’s shoulders day after day, cuddling him is like the safest armour one could wear or craft from the earthy materials known to humankind. Taeyong feels the safest here, wrapped tightly in Ten’s arms, it feels like no demon or monster will be able to get to him in the warm embrace that has become his fortress, his protection from the horrors of life. He loves the feeling that he belongs somewhere, to someone's heart, that he isn’t just some random person on the street with not a shilling behind his soul, the background character in his own story. He loves the sacred feeling he gets whenever Ten just smiles towards him, whenever the other just turns to face him, whenever their eyes meet.

There is only a slight problem in the paradise his life has been for the few months he has spent inside and outside with Ten by his side. Their inside days spent like hermits, cuddling in their unbreachable fortress, with Ten being his only human contact on those few days. Their outside days spent with work or things that could technically be called dates, lacking only the official title. His little worry has been coming back to him every once in a while, be it night or a day at that very moment. It doesn’t want to leave him alone at all. It keeps swimming around in his head, banging pots and pans together to get his attention, to get him to address the problem that isn't even a problem but just an unanswered question.

"What are we even?" he ends up asking, his round eyes staring up towards the face of the man who's chest his head is comfortably laying on. His hand stills on the other’s chest as he waits for any kind of an answer or reaction. Curiosity for the others answer is killing him. Maybe he indeed is a cat?

"Officially?" he adds to his previous question.

Ten raises his eyebrow at the question, before shifting to be able to look better at Taeyong as his face scrunches up in utter confusion. He stares towards the freshly dyed redhead laying on him like a lazy cat, his eyes filled with infinite question marks.

"What do you mean with what are we - officially?"

Taeyong turns to fully face the other, his fingers entwining together underneath his head laying on Ten’s chest. His leg slips between the other's as Ten's arms wrap themselves tighter around Tae's waist to hold him in place.

"Well, there are quite many options, do you want me to list some?" he asks with a cheeky smile stretched onto his lips as he stares at Ten like a lovesick puppy.

"Go on."

Taeyong's laughter fills the room at Ten's utterly confused face. He looks as if someone sent him face to face with a sphinx to answer a riddle that was asked in an unknown language.

The other pouts at that and pretends to be upset, sniffling loudly, when he is clearly only trying to hold back his own bright smile that threatens to take over his poorly spelt on poker-face.

"So, there is the possibility of friends with benefits," he whispers, eyes shining as he waits for any kind of a reaction from the other. Deep down he knows that this concrete suggestion will be trambled on till only dust is left of it.

Ten shakes his head furiously from side to side and Taeyong struggles to get his hands out from underneath his head to catch Ten’s face in between his hands to hold it still before Ten accidentally sprains his neck.

"Don't shake your head off," he laughs, the giggles just pouring out of him as Ten keeps on making faces and trying to shake his head despite Taeyong's hands restricting his head's every movement.

"Since you didn’t like that, then we can be boyfriends or if that doesn't please you either then get a ring ready."

Within seconds, Taeyong finds himself flipped underneath the other, pinned down with his piercing gaze and hands on his wrists. There is a pleading look in Ten's eyes.

“Go on a date with me please.”

If the neighbours hear Taeyong’s delighted laugh and quite loudly screamed “Yes!”, they don’t mention it to the two of them.


	9. Chapter Eight

After what feels like multiple hours of endless wandering between dark trees and windy clearings, the trees start to thin and he stumbles upon the end of the woods that he has been searching for. The city is clearly visible from there, buildings rising towards the skies, the city creating a grey patch between nature. It is quite a bit to go to actually reach the streets, but at least the city is visible. It isn’t a fantasy of a tortured mind anymore. The food is so so near, almost as if he only has to turn forms and reach out with his shaking fingers and he will have it. Finally, something to fill his ever-growling stomach. 

Relief...

….and panic.

He sets his bag down and turns back into a human. Something that he hasn’t done for a long time, he hasn't felt the need to do so for months. Everything feels horribly wrong. His fingers are too much to concentrate on. He is terrifyingly bigger than he has grown used to being. Will he even remember how to walk? How to talk? He just sits there, staring at the faraway lights of the city in wonder. Will he get food if he can’t ask for it? Or walk to it?

Probably not, but he sure needs to try hard.

His clothes look horrible. His black jeans are torn horribly on his knees, the cloth ripped almost to shreds on places where he has fallen on to his knees multiple times. His white button-up shirt is dirty and there are rips on the sleeves. Smears of dried blood are covering it around the rips where blood from the scratches he has gotten dirtied the cloth. That is what running around in the woods, collecting fruits and grass his smaller body couldn’t physically carry around does to fancy white shirts.

He tries to get onto his feet with help from a nearby tree. His legs shake and it feels weird to stand on two feet after months of walking around on four in the comfort of his way smaller body. Having toes and fingers again feels terrifying. How could he ever think that it was weird to be on hooves? Humans sure have difficult bodies to maintain and one of a pudu is sure more comfortable.

He takes a few steps towards the edge of the woods. Only to find himself back on all fours as his knees and palms burn, protesting against the fall with all their might. He sighs and tries again. And again. And again, before he manages to stay on them. Even then they shake as if threatening to buckle underneath his weight any moment. It’s scary how high he is now, seeing over bushes without climbing onto something is petrifying. How can humans even live and do what they do day after day in such hights?

Hyuck doesn’t know anymore. He might have known a while ago, but for now, there is nothing he is aware of when it comes to human life. He doesn't remember small details that well as he hasn't needed them in a while. Everything is out of his comfort zone. The clothes included. He never noticed how much the shirt seemed to strangle him. Yet, now he can’t seem to brush it off. His fingers refuse to collaborate on the buttons though. He is left to suffer through it. Soon, soon he won't have to worry about the buttons and the restriction of clothes anymore.

Neither does the bag want to collaborate with him. His fingers don't really know how to act or how to move anymore and it all feels bizarre. When he finally gets the money out of the bag, he is already so tired of the horrible mess that mother nature has put him into, he just wants to lay down and not wake up before summer arrives. Obvious reasons as to why there are no pudus naturally in South-Korea, he has yet to get out of this mess alive and it hasn't even snowed yet.

He will never know when death decides to knock on the door of his life. Might be today, might be tomorrow. Or a year from now. He won't even know before it is there and he is dead.

With a sharp intake of air, attempting to gain any type of confidence he possibly could, he leaves the comforting shadows of the woods behind. His steps are hesitant and wavery as he isn't even sure how long he can possibly walk without falling. He doesn't want to leave the comfort of nature behind, yet it is all he can do to live just a little longer. After that, he can go back and pretend again that humans don't exist and that he is just a small little pudu lost on a wrong continent.

By the time he reaches the streets in the town, he realizes that even though he doesn't have the word "shapeshifter" inked onto his forehead to make sure that everyone would know to keep away from him, he isn't safe from judging glances and turned up noses. Seems like he never will be either. If it isn't one thing wrong with him, it is something utterly different that will keep everyone away from him and out of society.

It hurts to see mothers usher their children over the streets so they wouldn't walk on the same side as him. That no matter what, but he needs to be isolated and kept away from everyone. It hurts to see people stare at him as if he has a pair of horns on his head or as if there is a tag with the words "judge me" hanging from his neck. With a hesitant touch, he cards his fingers through his dirty hair. There are no horns that his fingers find. Only clumps of dirt that refuse to come off of the hair strands. He has not learned how to turn partly, thank God.

He refuses to look at the faces of the people around him. He doesn't want to see horror and judgment that is most definitely graved onto their faces. If anything, he just wants to disappear underneath the ground, waiting for it to swallow him whole. At least then no one would be staring at him or making weird comments. Though, most likely there would be someone with something judgemental to say anyway. 

He decides that he will do anything he can to get out of the town as fast as humanly possible or pudu-ly possible. There is literally no one who doesn't seem to judge him for something. None of the people welcomes him among themselves. His parents had been more welcoming even and they were horrible to him.

After a long time spent searching for a store where a guard wouldn't look at him with a face that denied all possibilities of entering, he arrives at a store he might find fresh vegetables from and where the guard lets him pass into the building. Sure, he makes a face at the way he looks, but he doesn't say or do a thing to stop him. Hopefully, something that is sold here is edible too. 

There aren't many people inside the building, but those who are, seem to keep away from him as far as the high shelves allow. He ignores everything and everyone else and goes straight to the veggies and fruits. Not all of them look that good, but the carrots and cabbages sure do look better than the expensive fruits and half rotting vegetables that have been left on some of the shelves. 

He decides that this is what he needs to survive on for the rest of the winter if it even is possible. He searches for the biggest carrots and the biggest cabbages he can find. It isn't much, but it is all he can afford after all. At least for some time, he will be able to eat like the king's cat. Or the king's pudu.

The cashier stares at him and his weird items for a moment but says nothing. Sure, maybe a man who looks clearly homeless buying two cabbages and five carrots should be considered insane as that is no way going to keep him feed. Luck seems to be on Hyuck's side for now. They didn't throw him out and claim that he stole the money or something equally as bad. There sure seems to be hope in this society for him, even if for a short time period.

He puts the things in the bag he bought with them and leaves the shop behind hurriedly in case they decide to change their mind. Hopefully, there will be no one to bother him from now on and he can safely return to his woods with the food and isolate himself again with nothing horrible happening.

His luck doesn't last for long as he seems to run out of it as soon as he exits the shop he was in. His tendency to walk with his eyes on the ground to make sure that the unusual feet, he isn't used to, work as they should, causes him to run into someone taller than him. He finds himself sitting on the street with his carrots and cabbages rolling away from him and the bag he dropped. His tail bone aches from the bruising fall and his palms sting with the cuts. He forces back his tears and tries to convince himself that he won't cry like a small child and offer even more entertainment to everyone looking at him.

He starts collecting the vegetables he bought as fast as his body listens to the frantic orders from his brain. He reaches for the last cabbage only to have it handed to him by someone. He looks up. He knows he looks scared, his eyes are probably wide like plates. 

The man smiles at him softly, his red hair parted and the strands staying out of his eyes. Hyuck takes the cabbage from him and stuffs that in his bag as well.

"Do you need help with anything else?"

He just shakes his head violently. He doesn't need their help and he surely doesn't need their pity. He isn't a damn toy or decoration to flaunt around on the streets and social media.

No way in hell.

He gets up onto his legs and ignores the additional questions from the man. Like hell he really cares. He has seen it before. His own father has done it. Let's give money to this poor homeless person so the people on the streets see what a good and caring man I am, surely they will buy more of my company's things then. No matter how beautiful he is, he doesn't give a rat's ass about Hyuck. No one has and no one will either.

He knows that he probably can't run, but he walks as fast as he can without ending up nose first on the sidewalk. The crowd lets him pass, God forbid any of them touches him and get's rabies or something similarly as horrible.

His palm burns from holding the bag as the cloth rubs against his cuts. He ignores that too as he gets closer to getting out of the town. He is almost there.

When the shadow of the woods finally conceals him from the outside world he goes to seek out his other bag. He needs to find somewhere, where he can stay with his bags and turn without worrying about how he should get his bags there in his other form. 

He drags his tired body deeper into the woods, feeling weird and in danger as he stalks between the trees. He ends up underneath the roots of a big tree with his bags. Now he can eat comfortably. Doesn't even need to worry about the rain and weather.

'Home sweet home,' he thinks as he nibbles on the first carrot, enjoying its taste on his tongue.


End file.
